RSPB puffin study: What your 'Puffarazzi' holiday photos helped charity learn about threatened seabirds

The results are in for a ground-breaking citizen science study, which has helped shed some light on what puffins are eating - and how that has changed.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) research, published on Wednesday (29 May) in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology, saw some 602 members of the public - dubbed 'Puffarazzi' by the conservation charity - submit 1,402 photos of puffins carrying food for their chicks from across the UK.  The photos were then analysed by a dedicated team of volunteers, or ‘Puffineers’, to determine the quantity and types of prey caught and brought back to the nest to their baby pufflings.  

The Atlantic puffin is considered ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although in the UK the species is on the conservation red list, and faces a number of threats. The colourful and charismatic seabirds are one of a number of species severely impacted by bird flu in recent years, while a recent government “lifeline” decision to end commercial sandeel fishing - a major puffin food source - has been challenged by the EU.

In total, the research team identified more than 11,000 prey items from 27 colonies across the UK and Ireland. Sandeels were found to still be core to all of the colonies’ diets, with sprats, herring, rockling and young cod also on the menu.  

What they found suggested there might be a link between prey availability and areas where puffins are declining - with birds from areas with the steepest declines often found feeding their chicks with larger numbers of tiny fish. Meanwhile, puffins in regions where the species was doing better were bringing in a smaller number of much larger fish. 

Lead author of the study, Dr Ellie Owen, said the project was a testament to the huge boost that scientists and the public can give conservation when working together. Co-author Dr Connie Tremlett added: “We were bowled over by the incredible support of the public and how many people took part. The ‘Puffarazzi’ provided us with high-quality and robust data at a scale that would have been impossible without citizen science, which is vital for better understanding the threats faced by our Puffins and how we can help them.”  

Fritha West, one of the ‘Puffineers’ who helped with the study, said she was “incredibly proud” to have been involved in such an innovative project. “As the impacts of the climate crisis become more severe, it's important we find efficient ways to monitor those changes, if we have any hope of doing anything about it. And looking at lots of pictures of cute puffins didn't hurt either.”

This study helped demonstrate that publicly-sourced photos were a viable and cost-effective method of collecting puffin chick diet data UK-wide. By replicating these efforts in future for longer-term monitoring, the RSPB hoped that scientists and conservationists could better understand the critical species puffins rely on, and help protect their foraging areas from overfishing or development. 

The charity’s head of marine policy, Kirsten Carter, said this was “much-needed research”, particularly in light of the worrying results revealed by the latest seabird census - which showed that 62% of seabird species in the UK are declining. “Since the data was gathered, a lifeline has been thrown to puffins and other species that depend on sandeels. The UK and Scottish governments recently announced a full closure of sandeel fishing in English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters. This is hugely welcome news and needs to provide momentum for delivery of other much-needed actions to protect and save our seabirds.”

She urged the UK government to stand firm, even in the face of the EU’s legal challenge. “The EU needs to reconsider its position and recognise the importance of protecting and restoring sandeel stocks to help turn around the fortunes of these globally important seabird populations.”